Rotor for a blower structure

ABSTRACT

A BLOWER STRUCTURE IS DISCLOSED IN WHICH THE ROTOR THEREOF INCLUDES AN IMPELLER WITH A PULLEY MEANS DEMOUNTABLY ATTACHED TO THE PERIPHERY THEREOF.

Nov. 14, 1972 A- D. GOETTL ROTOR FOR A BLOWER STRUCTURE Filed Avril 12, 1971 lilll lll lll ll 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 -|IlIIHIIlI "IHIIIIIII" INVENTOR.

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AGENT United States Patent Olfice 3,702,741 Patented Nov. 14, 1972 US. Cl. 416-187 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE A blower structure is disclosed in which the rotor thereof includes an impeller with a pulley means demountably attached to the periphery thereof.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Field of the invention This invention relates to blower structures and more particularly to a rotor for use therein.

Description of the prior art For a clear understanding of the terminology employed throughout this specification, a rotor is defined as including an impeller and a pulley, the impeller includes at least one blower Wheel, and the blower wheel is defined as the basic air or gas moving mechanism. Thus it should be understood. that when the impeller is made up of a single blower wheel, the terms impeller and blower wheel are synonymous.

Various meanshave been employed for coupling rotary motion to the impellers of blower structures, the most common of such means is a pulley fixed to a rotatable shaft and outwardly disposed with respect to one of the opposed axial inlets formed in the blower housing with the impeller coaxially mounted on the shaft and positioned between the axial inlets. Such pulleys tend to disturb the inlet flow to the blower particularly when the pulleys are of large. diameter, and in many instances the belts which drive these pulleys are subjected to the inlet flow to the blower which may have a deteriorating effect on the belts. Also, drive pulleys employed in this manner are costly and oftentimes require maintenance with respect to their connection to the shaft.

H Several attempts have been made to form the drive pulley integral with the impeller, such integral pulleys are normally disposed on the periphery of the impellers. This method has several advantages over the previously described method of affixing a separate pulley to the rotatable shaft, such as moving the drive belt out of the inlet environment and eliminating the turbulence caused by the separate drive pulley.

Another important advantage of the pulley being formed on the periphery of the impeller is that such pulleys are inherently large which allows the use of high r.p.m. motors which provides for a more efricient cooling of the motor as well as economy in the procurement thereof.

Pulleys formed integral with the impellers have not reecived wide commercial acceptance due to the necessity of changing the traditional methods of fabricating the impellers, costs of tooling and the like.

Therefore, the need exists for a demountable drive pulley which may be mounted on the periphery of conventional impellers.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with the invention claimed a new and useful rotor is provided for a blower structure, the rotor comprises a conventional impeller with a demountable pulley means on the periphery thereof.

The pulley means for the present invention comprises an elongated member having a belt engaging groove formed therein, and is fabricated to conform to the annular end plate of the impeller. The pulley may be assembled on the end plate of a single blower wheel or may be mounted between adjacent end plates of two blower wheels coaxially mounted on a common shaft.

Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new and useful rotor for a blower structure.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful rotor for a blower structure in which the rotor comprises an impeller having a demountable pulley means on the periphery thereof.

Another object of the present invention is to provide a new and useful pulley means which is adapted to be demountably attached to the periphery of an impeller in a blower structure.

The foregoing and other objects of this invention, the various features thereof as well as the invention itself may be more fully understood from the following description when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING FIG. 1 is a side elevation of a centrifugal blower mechanism, partially broken away and in section to illustrate the features of the invention;

FIG. 2 is a fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 2-2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIG. 2 illustrating an alternate embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary sectional view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 illustrating still another embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 5 is a sectional view taken on the line 55 of FIG. 2.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring more particularly to the drawings, FIG. 1 illustrates a centrifugal blower 10 of the type commonly employed in evaporative air coolers. It is not intended that the present invention be limited to this particular structure as the concepts of this invention may be applied to a wide range of blower applications.

The centrifugal blower 10 is provided with a housing 12 having the normal axially opposed inlets 14 (one shown), and a centrifugal outlet 16. Each of the axial inlets 14 is provided with a cross member 18 which spans the inlet and is secured on its opposite ends in the conven tional manner to the housing 12. Intermediate the ends of each of the cross members 18 there is provided a pillow block 20 in which a shaft 22 is rotatably mounted.

A rotor 24 comprising impeller means 25 and demountable pulley means 26 is mounted on the shaft 22. and is rotatable about the axis of the shaft.

Rotary motion is supplied to the rotor 24 by a motor 28 having an output shaft 30 'on which is keyed a pulley 32. A V-belt 34 of conventional design passes around the pulley 32 and enters through a slot 36 into the interior of the housing 12 where it drivingly engages pulley means 26.

FIG. 2 illustrates the rotor 24 of the present invention which comprises the impeller means 25 with the pulley 26 mounted thereon in a manner to be hereinafter described in detail. The impeller 25 in this embodiment includes two identical blower wheels 38 and 40 coaxially mounted on the shaft 22.

Since the blower wheels 38 and 40 are identical the following description of blower wheel 38 also applies to blower wheel 40. i

The blower wheel 38 is provided with two identical disk shaped end plates 42 and 44. As best seen in FIG. 1, wherein end plate 42 is shown, the plate comprises a central hub 46 from which a plurality of integrally formed spokes 48 or struts radially extend. The spokes 48 terminate at their outermost ends in an integrally formed annular ring 50.

As seen in FIG. 2, the hub 46 of each end plate 42 and 44 is provided with a collar 52 welded, staked or otherwise attached thereto. Each collar is provided with a set screw 54 which attaches the blower wheel to the shaft 22 in the normal manner, and also allows the wheels to be longitudinally positioned along the length of the shaft.

The annular rings 50 of the end plates 42 and 44 are each provided with a peripheral edge 56 which may be rolled or otherwise formed thereon. The edge 56 is shown as opening inwardly for engaging and retaining a plurality of blades 58. The blades 58 extend between the spaced apart end plates and are positioned in spaced intervals to form a cylindrical configuration which when mounted on the shaft 22 is concentric therewith.

Each of the blades 58 are formed with a pair of tabs 60, one extending from each end of the blade. Blades fabricated in this manner may be assembled by inserting the opposite tabs 60 of each blade in the opposed openings of the edges 56 and crimping the edge or otherwise affixing the tabs therein.

The two blower wheels 38 and 40 are coaxially mounted on the shaft and are longitudinally positionable thereon as hereinbefore described. Therefore, the pulley 26 may be inserted between the adjacent end plates 42 and 44 of the blower wheels. The pulley 26 is positioned between the adjacent edges 56 of the adjacent annular rings 50 and is maintained in this position by longitudinally sliding at least one of the blower wheels 38 or 40 to sandwich the pulley 26 therebetween. Additional means for securing the pulley 26 in this position may be employed such as providing a plurality of spring clips 62, or other connector devices, at spaced intervals around the rings 50 (FIGS. 2 and The pulley 26 may be formed of various materials such as neoprene, or selected ones of the synthetic materials called plastics, and the like. The pulley material however should be flexible enough to assume the geometric shape of the periphery of the blower wheels and should also resist cold flow. The pulley 26 may be molded, extruded or otherwise formed into the desired configuration and may be fabricated in any desired length which is trimmed to the proper size to provide abutting ends 64 (FIG. 5).

The pulley 26 is provided with the usual V-shape, in cross section, channel 66 formed in one surface thereof to engage and be driven by the V-belt 34. The opposite side surfaces 68 and 70 of the pulley may be provided with recesses 72 or gripping means formed along the length thereof into which the edges 56 of the adjacent annular rings 50 are inserted. This method of mounting the pulley 26 prevents radial displacement thereof which may be caused by belt tension or centrifugal force.

It should be understood that the hereinbefore described construction details of the blower wheels 38 and 40 are merely exemplary of one method of fabricating such wheels. Therefore, the edges 56, shown and described with relation to wheels 38 and 40', may vary in size, cross sectional configuration and the like in wheels fabricated by other methods. These differences will not efiect the basic concepts of the present invention as the recesses 72, or gripping means may be formed in the pulley 26 to suit a particular wheel structure.

FIG. 3 illustrates a fragmentary sectional view of another type of impeller structure sometimes referred to as a center suspended blower.

In this technique the impeller means is fabricated of two identical cantilevered blower wheels 74 and 76. Each wheel 74 and 76 is fabricated with a single end plate 78 which is a solid structure from which blades 58 are cantilevered, thus forming a single inlet 80 to each wheel. The wheels 74 and 76 are mounted on the shaft so that the end plates are positioned substantially in the center of the blower housing 12 and are adjacent to each other which positions the opposed inlets 80' in close proximity to the opposed axial inlets 14 of the housing 12.

The end plates 78 of the cantilevered wheels 74 and 76 are each fabricated with a conical hub 82 and have a collar 84 suitably attached thereto. The collars 84 attach the wheels 74 and 76 to the shaft 22 and allow longitudinal positioning of the wheels in a manner similar to that previously described with reference to wheels 38 and 40. Each of the conical hubs 82 terminate in an integrally formed disk portion 86 which radially extends from the hub in a plane perpendicular to the shaft 22.

The disk portions 86 of the end plates 78 are the functional equivalents of the annular rings 50 of wheels 38 and 40 and are shown with a different type of peripheral edge 57 in which the blades 58 may be secured by rivets 59, welding or the like. The blades 58 are supported on the ends extending toward the inlets 80 by an annular retainer ring 88.

With the cantilevered blower wheels 74 and 76 fabricated and assembled on the shaft 22 in this manner the pulley means 26 may be mounted therebetween in the same fashion as hereinbefore described.

FIG. 4 illustrates another common type of impeller structure formed of a single blower wheel 90.

The blower wheel 90 is fabricated in the same manner as wheels 38 and 40 therefore the structural elements are identified by the same reference numerals and the descriptive details of the elements need not be repeated.

Since the pulley means 26 cannot be mounted between adjacent blower wheels as was the case with wheels 38 and 40, 74 and 76, an annular support ring 92 is provided. The support ring 92 is provided with a peripheral edge 93 similar to the previously described edge 56, and the ring 92 is positioned adjacent to the outwardly disposed surface of either one of the annular rings 50 to hold the pulley 26 therebetween. The pulley 26 is formed with transverse holes 94 provided in spaced increments along the length thereof which when assembled align with spaced holes 96 formed in support ring 92, and with holes 98 formed in annular ring 50. Suitable connector means such as screw 100 and nut 102 are employed to assemble the pulley and support ring to the wheel.

While the principles of the invention have now been made clear in the preferred embodiments, there will be immediately obvious to those skilled in the art many modifications in structure, arrangements, proportions, the elements and the materials used in practice of the invention, and otherwise which are particularly adapted to specific environments and operating requirements without departing from those principles. The appended claims are therefore intended to cover and embrace such modifications within the limits only of the true scope of the invention.

I claim:

1. A rotor for a blower structure of the type having a shaft coaxially mounted within a pair of opposed axial inlets formed in a blower housing, the blower structure also having a drive mechanism for providing rotary motion to said rotor, said rotor comprising:

(a) impeller means having at least one end plate and mounted for rotation about the axis of the shaft; (b) pulley means demountably attached to the periphery of the end plate of said impeller means for transmitting rotary motion from the drive mechanism to said impeller means, said pulley means comprising: an elongated body adapted to assume the geometric shape of the periphery of the end plate of said impeller means; a V-shaped in cross section channel in one surface of said body for receiving a V-belt therein; and gripping means formed in the opposite side edges of said body along the length thereof for engaging the periphery of the end plate of said impeller means.

2. A rotor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said impeller means comprises:

(a) a blower wheel having a pair of spaced apart disk shaped end plates, each of the end plates having a hub with a plurality of spokes radially extending therefrom which terminate in an annular ring;

(b) a support ring positioned adjacent to the outwardly disposed surface of the annular ring of one of the end plates for supporting said pulley means therebetween; and

(c) connector means on said blower wheel for holding said pulley means between said support ring and the adjacent annular ring.

3. A rotor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said impeller means comprises a pair of blower wheels each having a pair of spaced apart disk shaped end plates, each of the end plates having a hub with a plurality of spokes radially extending therefrom which terminate in an annular ring, at least one of said blower wheels being longitudinally positionable along the length of the shaft for positioning the inwardly disposed end plates of said pair of blower wheels adjacent to each other for holding said pulley means between the adjacent annular rings thereof.

4. A rotor as claimed in claim 3 wherein said impeller means further comprises a connector means on said impeller means for holding said pulley means between the adjacent annular rings of said blower wheels.

5. A rotor as claimed in claim 1 wherein said impeller comprises a pair of cantilevered blower wheels mounted on the shaft to provide opposed inlets and adjacent end plates, at least one of said blower wheels being longitudinally positionable along the length of the shaft to provide an adjustable space between the adjacent end plates into the periphery of which said pulley means is inserted and held.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,190,543 6/ 1965 Goettl 416-184- 3,618,411 11/1971 Rottweiler 74230 .11 3,147,911 9/1964 Clute 41618 6 3,117,715 1/1964 Bloomingdale 417-223 R EVERETTE A, POWELL, JR., Primary Examiner US. Cl. X.R. 

